a bleeding purple utah jazz blog

Game 55 @ POR: The Secret Diary of a Bipolar Jazz Fan

As I’m writing this, there are 8 minutes left in the third quarter. AK left the game with back spasms in the first quarter, Camby is singlehandedly killing the Jazz on defense while Batum is singlehandedly killing the Jazz on offense, Boozer is shooting lots of fadeaway jumpers and lowering his FG% with each shot and had 40% of the Jazz’s TOs at halftime, Deron’s shot is still MIA (but not as MIA as KK/CJ’s 0-9), and Portland has just gone on a 14-0 run (the Jazz also managed to not score for the last five minutes of the first quarter). We are getting outplayed in every possible way we can get outplayed.

What a suckswamp.

It is around the end of the third quarter, and I notice that my phone has died. I plug it into the charger, and it immediately rings. “Where are you?” asks my boss. “You’re supposed to be filling in today.”

OOPS.

I grab my stuff and race out of the house. When I get to work, I click onto the video feed not so much because I love the Jazz so much and can’t bear to be away from them–I’m actually hugely disgruntled at the moment–or believe they can win, but really just out of habit.

WHAT THE WHAT?!

There are less than two minutes left in the fourth, Sap has apparently fouled out, and the Jazz are down by four.

WHAT THE CRAP?

I love you so much, Utah Jazz, for not giving up and fighting to the end (with, perhaps, a little help from a collapsing Blazer team that only scored 10 points in the 4th). But I also hate you for subjecting me to those first three quarters. And I hate you even more because you almost had a chance to win with one minute left and let the Blazers get 87 offensive rebounds in one trip down the floor. You suck.

Two (eventual) Deron FTs later, Jazz Killer of the Night Batum misses a shot, Fes gets the board, and Deron misses a long shot. UGH AGAIN??? #$&%%^&#$%^#@$% Deron decides he should be the one taking that when he’s been–Boozer gets the offensive board and lays it in!!!! Overtime!!!!!! Great reaction shot of Ty Corbin on the replay. I love watching the man react to big Jazz plays.

Incidentally, it freaking sucks to be cut off from the SLC Dunk game thread.

OT: going well/feeding the big man…going well…going well/feeding the big man…BAD long jumper by Deron with 30 seconds left. If they’d’ve gotten a better shot on that possession, the game would have been over. Instead, we had to wait on tenterhooks as first Boozer and then CJ go 1-2 at the FT line…but in the end, WE WIN!!! WE WIN!!!! Ceeeeelebrate good times, c’mon!

Big up to Jerry for working the substitutions like a master puppeteer, and calling plays when the Jazzmen couldn’t run a play to save their lives. This honestly feels like the biggest win of the season, bar Sundiata heroics maybe.

It was indeed a very inspiring game finish, even watching it real time it seemed like a total dream/nightmare live before your eyes.

The game blog was all but totally insane! The bi-polar girlfriend jazzboyz were playing their worst, then the provided meds musta kicked in, slowly but ticking away with each minute on the game clock. Boozer and Fess steping up and making it happen with Deron directing via Sloan’s commands. WOW!

Booch arrived late, panting and exhausted as though he had just typed a marathon. We all knew he had just been shopping at O verstock.com, :) Provided for some smiling relief as the game ended and all needed a tad of time to wind down.